Tony Fontane was born Anthony Trankina on Sept. 18, 1925, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. After a stint in the Coast Guard during World War II, he hit the nightclub circuits in New York and Chicago hoping for a break as a singer. Using the stage name Tony Fontane, he won the Major Bowes Amateur Hour, which started him on a career as a popular singer. He recorded for Mercury Records, with his biggest hits being “The Syncopated Clock” and “Cold, Cold Heart,” which sold 1.4 million records in 1950. He toured Australia in two shows, and made several hit records in that country. In 1957, back in the United States, Fontane was involved in a car crash that put him in a coma for more than a month and severely threatened his life. After recovering, he devoted his life solely to Christian music and, by the 1960s, was one of the most famous gospel singers in the world. A recording contract with RCA produced 20 or more very successful gospel albums. On June 30, 1974, Fontane died at the age of 48. His funeral at Forest Lawn Memorial Park was attended by an estimated 10,000 people.